


I've Had the Time of my Life

by TriniTea



Series: The Pieces of Our Story [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, References to the Dirty Dancing Movie, Romance, Takes place in Season One
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-06 00:56:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11589720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriniTea/pseuds/TriniTea
Summary: "And Coulson asked me to teach you ballroom dancing, not the lift from 'Dirty Dancing'. And what practical use does that move have anyways?"Recreating the lift from Dirty Dancing? Not quite the training Ward had in mind.





	I've Had the Time of my Life

**Author's Note:**

> Oops, I uploaded these out of order. My mistake. 
> 
> I wrote this after I watched that Dirty Dancing remake that ABC made and man, what a train wreck that was! The entire time I was watching it, I was wrapped in my quilt, just muttering, 'No, no, no, this is not right' over and over again.
> 
> So, since I need to think more good thoughts about the original movie (and to pretend that this reboot never existed), I thought I'd write a little one-shot (and apparently the meaning of 'little' is over four thousand words).
> 
> I know this author's note is too long, and I'm abusing my author's note powers, but there are lots of references to the movie here, and if for some reason you haven't watched it, I want you to drop everything and watch it. Please, you'll be happy you did so.
> 
> Enjoy!

"No."

 

"Oh, come on! Please Ward?"

 

"No way."

 

"Why do you have to be such a spoil sport?"

 

"It's because what you're asking is unrealistic!"

 

"No it isn't!"

 

"We are not dancers Skye!" Ward crosses his arms to match the stoic expression on his face. "And Coulson asked me to teach you  _ballroom_  dancing, not the lift from 'Dirty Dancing'. And what practical use does that move have anyways?"

 

Sure, he'll admit that it's a cult-classic movie and he enjoyed it more than he'd care to admit, but the choreography is for performers at the professional level. He's strongly believes that neither of them are cut out for challenge. He's not a professional dancer by any stretch of the imagination, and as far as he knows, she isn't a professional dancer either (she lived a van for Christ's sake. Taking dance lesson would be a waste of time and money).

 

And anyways, why would they even have to re-enact the dance? What purpose would that serve? Unless they're going undercover as leads in a live production of the movie or a remake or something, but that would never happen! Who would remake a classic? If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

"But it's a trust exercise! As you're rookie I need to trust you and for you to trust me. Remember the part about 'You'll hurt me if you don't trust me'? That makes it a trust exercise," Skye states as if she was in front of a courthouse, and while she tries to mimic Ward's expression.

 

Ward sighs. She isn't going to give up, is she? No means 'no', and apparently Skye doesn't understand that.

 

"The answer is 'no'," Ward states, punctuating every word.

 

Skye takes a step into his personal space. "Come on Ward." She runs a hand down his chest as she looks up at him through her lashes. "I know that there's a little Swayze in you. Plus, I think those biceps of yours can lift me, right?"

 

Just as he feels just a touch of heat seeping up at his cheeks, he mutters a quick, "Fine." before turning away and out of her grasp.

 

What the hell just happened? Did he just cave into her outrageous demands and all it took was a stroke down his chest and a coy gaze to get him to crumble? He's not going try and explain what happened. One moment he stood firmly on the side of 'Only crazy people attempt the lift without proper training' and in the next moment he was on the side of 'Sure! What will go wrong?'

 

He's losing it, he's actually losing it. After all of this time,  _Skye_  of all people sways him to join her cause (her stupid,  _stupid_  cause). And you know what? Garrett would be laughing his ass off if he saw this,  _e_ _ven better_.

 

A smile graces Skye' lips, "Thanks so much! I won't let you down!"

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Skye leave towards the galley. He didn't have the heart to tell her that they still have training to do (and for once in his life, he didn't feel like training either), but he also has to go watch that one scene over and over again until he has a solid lesson plan. Of course, that might take a while.

 

'A while' was an understatement.

...

 

It's early in the morning. The sun had just risen above the horizon and the birds just start to sing. The Bus is stationed for the next few days to refuel and restock supplies. Fitz and Simmons took advantage of their 'day off' of sorts, and are both sleeping in, May had already gotten up to run some errands, while Coulson had to check into the nearest SHIELD facility to update reports.

 

Usually Ward spends a 'me day' away from the team, usually taking a run, find a park to sit down and read at, maybe even visiting any landmarks or tourist attractions near where they are stationed. But instead, he's spending his day with Skye, trying that lift.

 

Over the last 24 hours, Ward had tirelessly spent planning how he's supposed to teach Skye the lift; the position of the hands, the momentum required, what he will do it she falls forward, because everything will come crashing down (literally) with a little mistake. Plus, Ward hates filling out injury reports, they just take too long.

 

Ward knocks on her bunk while calling out, "Skye?"

 

He hears her roll over in her bed covers. "What do you want Ward?" Skye asks in her half-awake state.

 

"Well, weren't you the one who wants to learn the lift?"

 

He hears her pause before calling out a quick, "Okay, give me a second to get ready."

 

"I'll meet you in the cargo hold in fifteen?"

 

She calls back, "Okay, I'll try to be quick." before getting out of bed and moving around to get ready.

 

Ward snickers to himself as he heads to the stairs. ' _I'll try to be quick'_ , yeah, like that ever happens.

...

 

He throws sandwiches and water bottles in the backpack before zipping it up and opening the trunk.

 

"Hey Ward." He looks up to see Skye ascending down the stairs. She's dressed in a black tank top and dark blue leggings, with her hair in a long braid. He's sort of surprised that she didn't throw on leg warmers and sweatbands.

 

"We'll be back mid-afternoon," Ward informs as he closes the trunk of one of the SUVs.

 

Skye raises an eyebrow while asking, "Wait, are we going somewhere?"

 

Ward walks around to the front of the vehicle. "Well, we can't just go straight into the lift. We'll need to do a few exercises that we can't do here." As she comes closer, he opens the passenger door for her. "Plus, if we stayed here, I bet Fitz would get 'I've Had the Time of My Life' stuck in his head, and we'd all have to suffer through his singing again for two weeks. So I'd rather just go."

 

Skye laughs as she slides into the car seat. "Well, the guy really slays at karaoke though," she remarks before Ward closes the door.

 

In his option, May is the real queen of Disney songs, especially the one-woman romantic duets. But it is a rare occasion when Coulson can get her to rock out to 'I'll Make a Man Out of You."

…

 

Skye takes a loud breath of fresh air as she steps out of the car and slams the door behind her. She stares right down at a path leaning into the forest. "Really? You charm a girl by talking her to the forest?"

 

"Well, we have to work on your balance don't we?" Ward asks as he walks around back, grabbing a backpack out of the trunk before locking the car.

 

He swears that he sees her eyes light up. "Wait, does this mean what I think it means?"

 

"Yeah, I'm going to make you walk on a log," Ward says as he leads the way down to the path. "Please don't fall."

 

Ward takes in a deep breath of spring air as they walk further into the thicket of the forest. A small stream comes into sight, bending and turning among the trees. They soon reach a divide between the sides of the stream. There is a fallen tree; it's thick with a deep brown colour, an ash tree he thinks. It has fallen between the rift and connects the two sides.

 

"Time to work on your balance." He leans his weight against a nearby tree, and then he removes his shoes and slips his sock inside them.

 

Skye follows his example and she unzips her wedge ankle boots. "Umm, are you sure about this? It looks a little rickety."

 

"It's fine Skye," Ward ensures. "You're usually the adventurous one, what happened?"

 

"Well, there is a difference between trying exotic Asian cuisine and tangoing on a probably not secure tree."

 

"I tried this yesterday night. If it can hold me, it can hold your pixie body."

 

He steps on, with his arms out, placing one foot in front of the other. Ward turns around and holds out his hand for Skye to grab. With extreme caution she follows his lead and steps into the log. Grabbing both of her hands, he spreads them wide.

 

Her legs are shaky at first as she tries to find her balance, her arms are out and her eyes are glued to her feet. He takes a few steps back, Skye follows him, slowly and careful, but she does follows him.

 

Ward lets go of one of her hands and lifts her chin up so her eyes are on him. He takes her hand again and slides it up to his bicep and he moves his hand to her. Skye follows his example and adjust their other arms to match.

 

"Okay, we're just going to step forward and back," Ward instructions. "Ready?"

 

"Yeah, okay."

 

Ward takes a step forward and her foot moves back in response. They soon follow into pattern, back and forth, back and forth. As they grow more confident, their hands float apart from each other. Their eyes are still locked on each other as their hands move to their sides. The perfect rhythm, they way they held each other's gaze, it is like a trance. Well, that was until Skye let out a little squeal as she lost her balance for a split second, her arms shoot out to Ward's shoulders to catch herself.

 

She laughs as she gets back into the rhythm. "You might be a little bit of a Johnny, but I'm defiantly not Baby."

 

Ward shares a smile. "Don't worry. It probably took Jennifer Gray and Swayze months to get all the choreography to performance quality. But you are doing well."

 

"Aww, a compliment, that's rather sweet of you."

 

"Well, that's enough touchy, feely stuff for now, we got training to do."

 

She slaps his arm playfully, but he makes no reaction of any pain. "And you ruined the moment. We were bonding!"

…

 

After going back and forth on the log, he decides that they are ready for what comes next. They carefully get off of the makeshift bridge, slip on their shoes and then Ward takes her to another section of the forest; a meadow clearing with tall grass up to their knees.

 

Ward jumps a few steps back. "Get a running start, and when you're in arm's reach, jump at me and I'll push you up, got it?"

 

Skye nods in response as she takes a few steps back. She shakes out her hands before taking the running start. As she draw closer, Ward bends his legs and she jumps up into his arms, which takes her not even above his head.

 

"Sorry," Skye says as he places her down.

 

Ward takes a few steps back while saying, "It's alright, just go again."

 

She takes another run at it. Going into it, it's a textbook lift. This time just makes it up, but she falls back to her feet.

 

"Okay, again." Ward says, jumping a few steps back. "The power's in the legs."

 

She takes another run at him. Just as Skye is within reach, Ward bends down, grabs her hips and brings her up over his head. He places a foot back in response to her rocking in his grasp. Ward looks up at her just as she begins to fall forward. Ward pulls her into his arms as they fall back.

 

He rolls onto his back with a grunt as Skye is comfortably held against his chest.

 

She lets out a small laugh. "Are you okay?" Skye ask as she rolls onto the ground.

 

"Yeah, I'm alright," Ward replies as she pushes himself up from the ground. "I think that it's best that we head to the lake and try it. The water will hurt less than the dirt." Once he gets to his feet he grabs her hand and pulls her up.

 

"We're doing the lift in the water? That is one of my favourite scenes!" Skye brushes off the dirt from her pants.

 

"I did enjoy the training montage, but cross your fingers that the water isn't freezing," Ward says as he picks up their bag of things before heading back in the direction of the car. "We'll have to drive to the lake. It'll take ten, maybe fifteen minutes."

 

A smirk appears on Skye's face. "Race you there!" she announces as she takes on in a sprint.

 

Ward snickers. "You're on!" he calls back as he runs to catch up with her.

...

 

Ward slips off his shirt and tosses it on the dock before slipping into the water from the dock. Once the water settles around him, it's above waist and covers a small portion of his toned stomach.

 

"Skye, the water's fine," he assures as he swims further, into deeper water.

 

Skye slips in after him, the water covering just below her chest. She gives a little yelp as she immerses herself in the water. Quickly, she dunks her head under before swimming out to meet him. She stands in front of him and he grips her waist firmly.

 

"So, we're really doing this?"

 

"Uh huh," he nods, their eyes meeting again. "Jump when you're ready. I've got you."

 

Skye takes a breath as she shakes out her hands. She then places her hands on Ward's shoulders for extra support.

 

"Okay, three...two...one!" Then on command, she jumps and Ward lifts her up above his head. Almost immediately, he feels her weight fall forwards. He tries to adjust his footing keep her up but it is not use and he hear her let out a high pitched shriek before hitting the water. Ward's falls back into the water too and is almost fully submersed.

 

Ward turns to see Skye reemerging from the water and asks, "You alright?"

 

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's a lot better than tasting dirt." Skye says as she strokes her hair back from her face.

 

She swims back to his arms, connecting her hands with his shoulder again. Ward reaches down for her waist again, but freezes for a split second when one of his hands brushes against the side of her breast. As far as he can tell it when unnoticed, but on the inside there is still this feeling of panic. When his hands actually meet her waist, he is so close to muttering a sigh of relief.

 

"This time, really squeeze your core. It's okay if you fall." Skye nods in response.

 

"On three; one...two...three!" Like last time, she takes a leap upwards and Ward pushes her up above his head. He takes a step back to try and keep her balanced, but as she rocks just slightly side to side, his arms bucket to the point of no recovery. He can't hold her up any more Skye falls between his arms right on top of him, pushing them both down into the water.

 

As they come up for air, Skye clings onto Ward's shoulders and is pressed against his chest as Ward has his arms around her lower back.

 

She takes a round of heavy breaths before declaring, "I take it back; you are no Swayze." There is this look of mock-disapproval on her face that makes him snicker.

 

"When my S.O. taught me to dance, it definitely wasn't graceful," Ward explains as he runs his hand through his hair. "The man thought that dance was an almost useless skill for a specialist, so instead of practicing at the ballet bar, he drilled me on conjugating French verb tenses and how to roll out of moving vehicle. I don't consider myself a great dancer, just enough to get the job done, but that's it."

 

"One of my ex-foster families took me to ballet lesson, but then they took me out because all I did was hand upside-down on the ballet bar."

 

There is a moment of silence occupied by the exchange of smiles.

 

Then Ward asks "Should we try it again?"

 

She nods before backing up a little bit, putting space between them.

 

Skye takes a breath before counting, "Three...two...one, up." As Skye takes a leap up, Ward rises in his knees and lifts her up.

 

She lets out a little grunt as she tries to balance herself with an arched back. She is practically holding her breath as Ward takes a step back to keep her balanced. Ward opens his mouth to say "Come on! You can do this!" but he knows that it will ruin her concentration. He wants to look up to see their success, but know that it will throw him off.

 

They held it for a solid five seconds before she broke and drives forward into the water below.

 

Skye laughs as her head pops back up from underneath the water.

 

"We had it!" She exclaims as she swims into his arms. "We actually did it!"

 

With heavy breaths Ward says, "Yeah, yeah we did."

 

She smiles at him, and he can't help but to smile back.

…

 

After a few more shots at the lift, they sit on the dock, their toes skimming across the water as they munch on sandwiches that Ward made in advance.

 

"Thanks a lot, for all of this," Skye says just after swallowing a bite of her sandwich. "I know we go the lift, like, once or twice, but it was great."

 

She sighs contently before adding, "When I was at St. Agnes, the nuns didn't let us watch Dirty Dancing, obviously, because it's called 'Dirty Dancing'. So I ended up watching it while I was at a friend's house and I fell in love. I remember trying to re-enact the dances when the nuns weren't watches." Skye chuckles at the memory before continuing.

 

"Eleven year old Skye would be freaking out right now. I've always wanted to be in Baby's shoes, have an epic summer romance, and dance my heart out. And this is the closest I've gotten to that, so thanks again."

 

"No, problem," Ward says as a small smile appears on his lips. "I'll admit that it was better than I thought that it would be."

 

Skye returns his warm smile before looking back out to the quiet lake. Ward tries to follow her action, but he just can't tear his gaze away from her.

 

Ward know that he shouldn't stare, that wouldn't be gentleman-like. But the water droplets that rolls again her smooth skin and disappear into her clothing manages to catch her attention. Plus, the way her wet clothes cling to her body leave little to the imagination…No, he shouldn't think about that. Why would he think of that?

 

Instead Ward places his plastic-wrapped sandwich beside him and he grabs the backpack beside him. Ward grabs a towel and opens it up and then he proceeds to move closer to her and drape the towel over Skye's shoulders.

 

She looks up at him with her soft brown eyes. "Thanks. And I was right after all, there's a little Swayze in you."

 

"But didn't you say that I'm not a Swayze?"

 

She snickers, "Well, you proved yourself, you're a Swayze."

 

Ward rests a hand in the crook of his neck. "I guess I'll take that as a complement."

 

"You should, it's the highest honour," Skye remarks as she leans her head against her own shoulder.

 

Being lured by her smile, Ward's eyes flicker down to her lips. It's not even for a second and he's sure that she doesn't notice it. But seemingly out of nowhere, a coquettish smile appears on her face.

 

"Dance with me."

 

Ward blinks. "What?"

 

Skye places her sandwich beside her and stands up, the towel falling to the ground. She holds out her hand for him. "Dance with me. I thought that was pretty straightforward."

 

He sighs as a small smile grows in the corners of his lips. "Fine," he gives in as he pushes himself to a stand. "But we'll never speak of this to the team."

 

"Aww, are you scared that they'll find out that their big, tough specialist likes to dance? That's cute," Skye remarks in a childish tone.

 

Ward ignores her banter as he takes her soft hand into his rougher and calloused one. His other hand slips down to her waist while her other hand is placed on his shoulder. They step into a rhythm, back and forth, back and forth, similar to the one they were doing on the log bridge. But this time that they are significantly closer to each other.

 

Ward places his other hand on her waist and then goes to lift her up and spin her around. There is a goofy smile on her face as she lands back on the ground. She leans against his shoulder as she moves both of her hands so they are on top of his.

 

Her lips are dangerously close to his ear, and he can faintly hear her singing, "Now I've had the time of my life, and I never felt like this before. Yes I swear, it's the truth, and I owe it all to you…"

 

"Cause I've had the time of my life, and I owe it all to you…" He continues as he moves her away from him to spin her around.

 

She then spins around into his embrace, with an arm around her and her back against his chest. The rock back and forth in a slow motion, her head leaned back against his shoulder. She reaches up, and runs the back of her hand down his chest. He leans his head down, to his breaths mingle with hers.

 

She sings, "I've been waiting for so long. Now I've finally found someone to stand by me..."

 

He should stay something, like how this shouldn't be appropriate for a trainee and S.O., or how Coulson expected them back an hour ago. But he can't force himself to say something. There is something about her touch that is almost addicting. His lack of professionalism is killing him inside, but he's willing to ignore it to feel Skye in his arms.

 

"We saw the writing on the wall, as we felt this magical fantasy..." Ward finds it a little embarrassing that he knows all the words to the song, but at least he can sing along with her.

 

"Now with passion in our eyes, there's no way we could disguise it secretly. So we take each other's hand, 'cause we seem to understand the urgency..." The sound of Skye's voice floods his senses and he'd be content from just listening her song.

 

He catches himself gazing at Skye's lips. But by the time he looks away, she's already spotted it. Skye takes his hand and guides it down the side of her body. His breaths became heavier and he can feel his heart thumping louder in his chest.

 

In attempts to distract himself he sings, "Just remember; you're the one thing. I can't get enough of. So I'll tell you something..."

 

Skye cups his cheek, moving it closer towards her. She perks up to her toes, moving closer to him. Her eyes flutter closed as her lips brush against his. Ward hears her sing in a hush tone, "This could be love…" And that is enough to trigger something inside of him.

 

Ward twirls her around so she's facing him and grabs her hips, pulling him against him so there is no space between them. Without a second thought he crashes their lips together, diving headfirst into a passionate kiss.

 

There is no hesitation, no second thought.

 

Ward never knew he wanted this, well, never admitted to himself that he wanted this, but he decides to show, not tell. He reaches his hand to the back of her head, weaving itself into her wet and tangled locks.

 

Once her tongue slips past his lips, its game over for him, any ounce of restraint he has left slips away as his senses are overloaded. Ward kisses her with the same passion that she kisses him with. Their rhythm slows as air becomes harder to come by. Ward's breaths are shallow as their lips disconnect slowly.

 

Skye takes a deep breath and her lips grow into a smile. "Hmm, that wasn't half bad."

 

"Half bad? I thought that you had the time of your life," Ward jokes.

 

Instead of a laugh, he gets a snicker and a pair of rolled eyes in return. "I never thought that you'd make corny jokes like that! I'm really rubbing off on you aren't I?"

 

He gives her a quick peck on the lips before replying, "I guess you are."

 

Skye turns around and wraps herself in his arms, so they are both facing the lake. Ward takes a tranquil breath as he leans his head onto her shoulder.

 

The sun that once was high in the sky and now drifts closer the tree line. They've been out for about six hours, between the drive and rounds of the actual training, they are both tuckered out. He's almost scared that Skye is just going to fall asleep in his arms (not like he would mind, but he'd prefer lying in a comfy bed with her instead of carrying her to the car).

 

He lets them bask in the moment (and quite frankly he'd want to stay in this moment forever), but soon asks, "Time to get back to the Bus?"

 

Skye looks up at him and nods. "Yeah I guess we should head back."

 

Ward picks up the discarded sandwiches and the towel and throws them into the backpack. He swings the bag around his shoulder and walks side-by-side with Skye.

 

As they walk on the path back to the car, Skye looks up at him and says with a smile, "Thank you for being my Johnny."

 

Ward chuckles as he reaches to lace his hand with hers. He brings it up to his lips and kisses it gently and says, "Any time Baby."

 


End file.
